RCFP: DHS must adopt policies to help protect journalists covering immigration enforcement

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is renewing its call for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to adopt policies that would help prevent the arrest or injury of journalists covering immigration enforcement activity and related protests.

In written testimony submitted to U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary’s Subcommittee on Border Security and Immigration, the Reporters Committee raised concerns about several recent incidents in which journalists were arrested or injured while covering DHS operations. 

The testimony, submitted on Nov. 25, 2025, urges DHS leadership to implement clear and comprehensive guidance for every investigative and enforcement element under its authority, detailing the First Amendment and other legal rights of journalists — a request the Reporters Committee previously outlined in a letter to U.S. Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem in October. 

Additionally, the testimony renews the Reporters Committee’s call for DHS to adopt a department-wide policy of “arrest avoidance” for journalists, a practice that the U.S. Justice Department has recognized as an important safeguard for First Amendment rights. It also expresses concerns about DHS agents’ practice of wearing masks and plainclothes, as well as officials’ public statements suggesting that documenting immigration enforcement physically endangers federal agents.

“Constitutional protections for newsgathering support not just the public’s access to information, but — through credible, independent documentation — the protection of DHS agents themselves,” the Reporters Committee argues. “Reportage can both hold officials accountable when necessary but also may support them by corroborating their account of an incident.”